A Chicago carpenter acquitted of murder-for-hire charges against a Border Patrol commander has been taken into federal immigration custody and faces deportation, according to his attorneys. Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was cleared of the charges late last week. Within 24 hours, federal immigration agents picked him up, defense attorneys Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer confirmed Tuesday.
The case reflects widening tensions in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge across the Chicago area, where roughly half of approximately 30 criminal cases brought under Operation Midway Blitz have been dismissed or dropped—a pattern prosecutors’ own records confirm, fueling skepticism about federal law enforcement characterizations of the enforcement operation.
Martinez was born in Mexico and brought to the United States as a young child, according to a videotaped interview played during the trial. He had been a beneficiary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era immigration program that shields certain undocumented immigrants from deportation. He was unable to reapply for the program in 2020 due to financial hardship, according to his wife.
“We were very, very happy because we knew that he didn’t do anything,” Bianca Hernandez told the Chicago Tribune. “But at the same time, it is a very bittersweet victory because he doesn’t actually get to come home.”
The charges
Martinez was arrested in October on accusations that he had sent Snapchat messages offering a $10,000 bounty to harm Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led aggressive immigration enforcement operations nationwide, including in the Chicago area. Prosecutors said one message read in part: “10k if u take him down,” accompanied by a photo of Bovino. He was charged with one count of murder-for-hire.
The jury deliberated for less than four hours before acquitting Martinez on Friday. During the trial, prosecutors accused him of being a ranking member of the Latin Kings gang. They presented no evidence to support the claim, and a judge barred further mentions of the gang allegation.
The verdict and aftermath
“This verdict is a reminder that juries see through political prosecutions,” Bedi and Singer said in a joint statement. “They demand real evidence, not speculation and character assassination. The government didn’t have it. They never did.”
The Department of Homeland Security responded by dismissing the jury’s decision. “This verdict does not change the facts: Espinoza targeted federal law enforcement with violence via Snapchat,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. A department spokeswoman declined further comment, citing confidentiality protections.
Operation Midway Blitz in broader context
Martinez is a married carpenter and father of three. He lives in Little Village, a heavily Mexican neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, where federal immigration enforcement operations have been frequent in recent weeks.
The surge of federal agents in Chicago and surrounding suburbs has prompted protests and standoffs with immigration officers. The pattern in the region extends beyond Martinez’s case. Prosecutors’ own records show that of the approximately 30 criminal cases brought under Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, roughly half have been dismissed or dropped—a dismissal rate that fuels skepticism about the operation’s legal foundation and the narratives federal authorities have offered to justify the enforcement surge.
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